William's Miscalculation
Whether it was magic or armor, facing an Aura Blade that could cut through anything head-on was foolish. William immediately retreated, putting distance between himself and Kyle who was charging straight at him. The two spells [Flight] and [Super-Speed Movement] were calculated simultaneously from William's hands, propelling his body at incredible speed. Watching him use two spells at once, Kyle realized his suspicions had been confirmed. Double Casting—a technique even the headmaster, who had received the research materials, hadn't had time to master. There was no way William, who wasn't even a Master, could have achieved it through talent alone. He had stolen it after all.
“Hahaha—! You're slow! You muscle-brained swordsman!”
“That damned spell-slinger……”
Kyle tore up the ground at full speed chasing after William, but he now understood just how terrifying a mage capable of using two spells simultaneously could be. The opponent flew while accelerating, while he was constantly hindered just trying to move. Suddenly sprouting tree roots tangled his feet, and rocks appearing out of nowhere tripped him up. Gravity felt heavier, his muscles weakened, and his speed slowed. These were William's specialty—status ailment spells.
“—If you drag this out, you'll be the one at a disadvantage.”
“Disadvantage? What are you talking about. Even a Master like you can't catch up to me. I can just run away like this.”
William was right. At any moment, he could simply fly into the sky and escape far from this place. The entire empire would issue a wanted order, but no country would refuse a mage possessing the tempting technique of Double Casting. He could defect anywhere. Besides, William had no family, so there was no way to stop him.
“By the way, to think someone actually created this technique— the headmaster really is a genius. I thought he was just an old has-been……”
“What?”
“Why, is it strange for a professor to badmouth the headmaster? That's just how employees are—they all badmouth their superiors.”
William muttered something about how he'd understand once he became a working adult, and how young nobles were hopeless, but Kyle wasn't surprised that he was insulting the headmaster. He was surprised that William didn't know who had created Double Casting.
‘Did he steal it after hearing from someone that Yuri had found the materials in the library?’
The way he spoke made it sound like he'd been regularly sneaking in and out of the headmaster's office to steal documents all along. Kyle shook his head, clearing away the stray thoughts. Whatever reason William had for stealing it didn't matter right now. It was information he'd find out after capturing him anyway. What mattered now was catching him—figuring out his motives could come later.
‘I can't catch him just by jumping.’
The enemy was a mage capable of three-dimensional flight. He was a swordsman who couldn't change direction once his feet left the ground. To catch someone in the air, he needed flight capability himself. How?
A low hum— Aura erupted from beneath his feet. Kyle stared at William for a moment, then shot upward explosively.
“How stupid. How do you even beat a mage in the air—”
The moment William tried to cast a spell at Kyle, Kyle condensed Aura beneath his feet to create a foothold. He stepped on the condensed Aura platform and changed direction midair. After changing direction, he created another Aura platform and repeated the jumps. Aura — Air Walk.
Seeing Kyle approaching while freely changing directions in midair, William's expression hardened and he immediately generated an arc discharge around his body. If electricity stiffened the body, even an Aura Master wouldn't be able to move—
“Huh…?”
“Looks like you know jack shit about Masters.”
But there was one thing William had failed to account for. A 4th-circle mage capable of Double Casting was certainly powerful, but an Aura Master wasn't an opponent that could be overcome with just that. It could be annoying, but ultimately, only another Master-level, at minimum a 5th-circle mage, could inflict decisive damage. As a 4th-circle mage, he was still far from reaching that realm of magic.
“That won't work—!”
Whoosh—! Kyle immediately swung his sword and struck William's head. Hit by the flat of the blade, William plummeted toward the ground like a shot arrow. Approaching William who had crashed into the ground creating a crater, Kyle realized he had lost consciousness. To think someone who fainted after one hit had been such a nuisance……
‘If he'd known about Masters, he would've run the moment he saw me.’
Intoxicated by the Double Casting technique, he had failed to properly gauge the gap between their levels. That was William's fatal mistake.
Kyle immediately grabbed William by the collar and dragged him toward the headmaster's office. Late at night, the headmaster who would normally be working overtime seemed to have gone home for some reason today. Kyle roughly flopped onto the sofa and looked for something to tie William up with.
“No rope or anything……”
Judging that the headmaster, being the usual pervert, would probably have rope, Kyle rummaged through the headmaster's locker, but found no rope. In the end, Kyle realized he had to fix William's limbs with Aura and keep watch over him himself.
“Ugh— Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter.”
Though he was tired from just using his strength, he couldn't risk losing William, so Kyle stayed awake through the night with his eyes open.
* * *
Early in the morning, arriving at work at sunrise, the headmaster paused upon seeing the unlocked headmaster's office. After the recent theft incident, security had been increased, but had it been robbed again? There wasn't much worth stealing from the headmaster's office, yet so many thieves kept coming— With a sigh, the headmaster prepared a spell just in case and opened the door to the office.
“Ah, you're finally here.”
“……Student Kyle?”
“Haaam— Man, I'm tired.”
Kyle, who had been yawning repeatedly on the sofa inside the office waiting for the headmaster, suddenly grabbed something he had been sitting on and threw it. Catching it with magic, the headmaster realized that what Kyle had been sitting on was William Taylor, the professor from the magic department.
“Professor William? Student Kyle, what on earth is……”
“That person is the culprit of the theft incident. He confessed with his own mouth. So I arrested him last night, but— I couldn't just hand over a 4th-circle mage to the guards. I kept him with me, that's all.”
Haaam— After letting out a yawn, Kyle stretched and stood up from the sofa as if he had done his part. The headmaster looked at Kyle with an incredulous expression.
“Professor William was someone who proved his innocence during the investigation process. How did you know this person was the culprit?”
“Ah, that. No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like he was the only possible culprit, so I pretended to be a robber and told him to hand over what he stole— and he said he'd give me the materials. Okay?”
“……Student Kyle, that's illegal.”
“Exactly, so it's a secret between me and the headmaster. This.”
As the headmaster watched Kyle leave the office after saying that, he turned to look at William, who had been held by Kyle. Though the investigation process was illegal— that kind of law, the headmaster could freely change with his abilities. It wouldn't be a problem to change it to something like William confessing out of guilt. The headmaster sighed and looked down at William.
“Professor William, please wake up.”
“……Was I found out? Headmaster.”
“Student Kyle probably knew as well.”
Click, click— The headmaster's magic bound William's limbs. Unlike Kyle's crude binding with Aura, it was a structurally beautiful spell. After restraining William like that, the headmaster's eyes began to glow with mana.
“To think you'd enter my room and steal something— you've got some nerve.”
“Headmaster, let's make a deal. The fact that Kyle Meyer is a Master—”
“The fact that he's a Master, what?”
The headmaster looked at William and emitted a menacing aura. Unfortunately, William wasn't in a position to negotiate with the headmaster. He could only kneel unilaterally, beg, and plead for his life.
“Did you think I wouldn't know even that? Everything that happens in this academy is within my grasp.”
“Ha, haha— You're the one who didn't even know your own materials were stolen, and you're saying that?”
“Right. So from now on— I'll have to find out how you stole it.”
Thud— Grabbing William's head, the headmaster grinned and began chanting a spell. Realizing what the spell was, William struggled to break free from his restraints. However, unfortunately, there was no way to block a spell cast by a mage one level above him while already restrained to the point where he couldn't even move his mana.
“Kugh, kghhhhh!?”
“First, I'll unfold all the wrinkles in your brain and find out what you were thinking when you did this.”
“Kuaaaaak—!”
A pain as if each and every wrinkle of his brain was being scraped with a metal shard washed over William. A horrific time. A time for mages that wasn't ethically permitted. Fortunately, only mages existed in this place. The headmaster began to sift through William's memories and knowledge one by one. And before long, he discovered where the stolen materials were.
* * *
I slept all day. Really all day. Only after the sun had set did I open my eyes and realize my stomach was screaming like crazy. It was a good thing I'd returned to the mansion instead of the dorm to sleep. The academy cafeteria closed outside of set hours. There was no way to get even simple food.
“Kgh……”
Stretching and loosening my body, I left the room and headed to where the maids rested. When I asked them to make a simple snack, the maids hurriedly got up and prepared food. I felt quite sorry asking for food at this late hour, but— what could they do? When the master ordered, they had to obey.
“Young master, it's ready.”
“Ah, thanks.”
While eating the dinner the maids had prepared, I wondered how William had passed the investigation. Force abilities activated instantly, and if caught off guard, even a Master couldn't avoid them— there was no way William, who was merely an Expert, could have blocked it.
‘Just what method did he use?’
Deep in thought, I fell silent, wondering if William might not be the culprit after all. He probably was, though. ……Probably?
* * *
A walking path sculpted within the academy. The woman who had been humming to herself realized that one of the ports connected to her had been severed.
“Oh my, Professor.”
It was Professor William's port. Had he been caught? Well, he'd had quite a useful ability, so she'd used it often. She let out a bitter smile as if it couldn't be helped and continued humming. As she was singing like that, three or four students approached her from afar.
“Whew— I came to see who was singing, and it's a cute lady.”
“Hey, hey, that's that girl. The commoner wench.”
“What? A commoner? Ha, lady my ass. She was a fucking peasant…….”
The moment they, who had seemed like nobles, realized she was a commoner, they changed their tone and gaze. Looking at her with contemptuous eyes, they began to lay hands on her as if it had worked out well.
“This is actually perfect, we can just do it here—”
“Get lost.”
“What? A commoner bitch like you, what……”
“I said get lost, didn't you hear?”
When she snapped in anger, the men who had been trying to touch her stiffened rigidly. Confirming that her ability had activated properly, she gave orders to the men who had tried to touch her.
“Each of you go back to your dorms. When you get back, kick each other in the balls. Ah, and forget that you saw me. Got it?”
“……Yes.”
“Then hurry up and get lost.”
Watching the students walk away unsteadily, she let out a light sigh. There were far too many people like that in this academy. Damn nobles who looked down on and despised commoners just because they were nobles. There was only one person who wasn't like that. She recalled his face and began to hum lightly. Even in the cold night air, her face was flushed red.